POSITION INFORMATION:

PROMOTION POTENTIAL:

DUTY LOCATIONS:

WHO MAY APPLY:

Applications will be accepted from US Citizens. Due to a recent change in Federal Appropriations Law, only Non-Citizens who are permanent US residents and actively seeking citizenship can be considered. Therefore, you are required to provide documentation that confirms you are actively seeking citizenship at the time you submit your application. Non-citizens who do not provide documentation will not be considered.

JOB SUMMARY:

Applicants wishing to apply for a Permanent Appointment should see Job Announcement DBI-2013-0005.

Become a part of our mission to maintain and strengthen the vitality of the US science and engineering enterprise. For over 60 years, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has remained the premier Federal agency supporting basic research at the frontiers of discovery across all fields, as well as science and engineering education at all levels.

The National Science Foundation is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Program Director for the Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections (ADBC) Program, in Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI), Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO).

DBI empowers biological discovery by supporting the development and enhancement of biological resources, human capital, and centers. These investments underpin advances in all areas of biological research.

The Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections (ADBC) Program seeks to enhance and expand the national resource of digital data documenting existing vouchered biological and paleontological collections and to advance scientific knowledge by improving access to digitized information (including images) residing in vouchered scientific collections across the United States.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

DUTIES:

The responsibilities of the NSF Program Director are constantly evolving. The Program Director is guided by the goals of NSF's Strategic Plan: (1) enable the United States to uphold a position of world leadership in all aspects of science, mathematics, and engineering, (2) promote the discovery, integration, dissemination, and employment of new knowledge in service to society, and (3) achieve excellence in U.S. science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education at all levels. The core strategies NSF staff employ include developing intellectual capital, strengthening the physical infrastructure, integrating research and education, and promoting partnerships.

Responsibilities of the Program Director include, for example, long-rang planning and budget development for the areas of science represented by the program or program cluster, the administration of the merit review process and proposal recommendations, the preparation of press releases, feature articles and material describing advances in the research supported, and coordination and liaison with other programs in NSF, other Federal agencies and organizations.

Additional duties and responsibilities include the following:

PROGRAM PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

Maintains a healthy balance of support for all the needs of the research and education enterprise through program, division, directorate, Foundation, or interagency activities.

Manages program resources to provide optimal appropriate scientific judgment to insure integrity and consistency in the grant/declination process without conflicts of interest, and with balance among appropriate sub-fields and institutions, and participation of all qualified scientists.

Manages an effective, timely merit review process, with attention to increasing the size and quality of the reviewer pools and insuring participation by women, minorities and disabled scientists.

Provides scientific expertise, evaluation and advice for other programs in NSF, including international programs, and other research programs, and cross-directorate programs.

Advises and assists in the development of short-and-long range plans, establishing goals and objectives for support of research programs.

Plans the budget for the program considering past, present and future fiscal years, allocates resources within the budget by distributing scarce resources among competitive projects, and manages post-award evaluation.

Controls waste, fraud and abuse.

REPRESENTATION, COMMUNICATION AND LEADERSHIP

Represents the Program, Division and the Foundation within the scientific community, with other NSF Divisions, with other appropriate agencies and organizations, and with the public, accurately reflecting NSF policy and positions.

Creates and maintains linkages to other NSF units and other Federal agencies in pursuit of the overall NSF mission.

Participates in staff, panel, committee and other meetings, providing input relevant to program area and/or Division.

Pursues and/or is responsive to assignment on special projects and temporary function teams across the Foundation to solve problems, improve staff communication, and effect coordination for special programs.

Contributes ideas and effort to improving the quality of policies and NSF's performance of the overall mission.

Prepares and disseminates a variety of informational documents which may include data on progress being made toward NSF goals, trends and opportunities papers, and budget plans.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Establishes contacts and maintains active involvement in Program and related areas through participation in professional activities.

Maintains familiarity with salient current research developments.

Pursues individual research as workload and travel funds permit.

Expands administrative capabilities through training courses or assumption of new management.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:

Applicants must have a Ph.D. or equivalent experience in biology, or another field related to the position, plus six or more years of successful research, research administration, leadership, and/or managerial experience pertinent to the position. The successful candidate should demonstrate recognized leadership and experience working with scientific natural history collections and/or collections data. Additional preferred qualifications include experience in collections imaging and data management and knowledge of current standards and practices relevant to collections digitization.

You will need to successfully complete a background security investigation before you can be appointed into this position.

You must meet eligibility and qualification requirements before 11:59 PM Eastern time on the closing date of the job announcement. You must answer all job-related questions in the NSF eRecruit questionnaire.

All online applicants must provide a valid email address. If your email address is inaccurate or your mailbox is full or blocked, you may not receive important communication that could affect your consideration for this position.

HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED:

You will be evaluated on the extent and quality of your experience, expertise, education, and research activities relevant to the duties of the position.We strongly encourage you to specifically address the Quality Ranking Factors below. This will ensure that you receive full consideration in the evaluation process.

Quality Ranking Factors

Knowledge of NSF's and DBI's mission and programmatic activities.

Ability to manage a proposal-driven grant program, allocating resources to meet a broad spectrum of program goals.

Demonstrated research, collaborative, and leadership experience and accomplishments in working with scientific natural history collections and/or collections data across disciplinary, organizational and national boundaries.

Ability to communicate with a broad range of audiences from STEM researchers and educators to decision makers to the general public.

BENEFITS:

For Visiting Scientist appointments, individuals are in a non-pay leave status from their home institutions and are appointed to NSF's payroll as Federal employees. NSF withholds Social Security and provides reimbursement to the home institution for fringe benefits. For information regarding Visiting Scientist appointments, visit our website.

HOW TO APPLY:

Your application should be submitted online and must be completed and all required documents successfully faxed or uploaded before 11:59 PM Eastern time on the closing date. You must answer all of the job-related questions to ensure full consideration for this position. For more detailed information, please review our NSF eRecruit Frequently Asked Questions.

WARNING! Applications submitted online must have a valid email address. If your email address is inaccurate or your mailbox is full or blocked, you may not receive important communication that could affect your consideration for this position.

If you are unable to apply electronically, please use the Contact Information below for special instructions on how to submit your application materials. Hearing impaired individuals may call TDD (703) 292-5090 for assistance.

IMPORTANT NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER OR DATE OF BIRTH ON YOUR APPLICATION DOCUMENTS.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:

Non-Citizens who are permanent US residents and actively seeking citizenship are required to provide documentation that confirms you are actively seeking citizenship at the time you submit your application. Non-Citizens who do not provide documentation will not be considered.

You are strongly encouraged to submit information regarding relevant awards received in the previous five years; a current performance appraisal; and/or letters(s) of recommendation. Additionally, you are strongly encouraged to submit a supplemental statement that describes how your background relates to the Quality Ranking Factors listed in the Qualifications and Evaluation Requirements section of this announcement. This information will be used in the evaluation process.

You can fax or upload your letter of recommendation(s) or the individual(s) can email the letter of recommendation(s) to adsearch@nsf.gov (Permanent) or rotator@nsf.gov (Rotator); please ask him/her to put your name and the job announcement number in the subject line.

Faxing Instructions: Please print out the appropriate fax coversheet(s) and follow the instructions carefully. All faxing must be completed before 11:59 PM Eastern time on the job announcement closing date. Please use extreme care in dialing the fax number to assure we receive your information. You will receive an email confirmation of receipt of your faxed document(s).

Transcripts are not required; however, please indicate the year that each degree was obtained on your application materials.

We also ask that you complete and submit the Applicant Survey Form. This will help NSF to ensure that our recruiting efforts are attracting a diverse candidate pool; it will be used for statistical purposes only.

All faxing/uploading must be completed before 11:59 PM Eastern time on the vacancy closing date. If you are faxing your information, please use extreme care in dialing the fax number to assure we receive your information. You will receive an email confirmation of receipt of your faxed/uploaded document(s).

WHAT TO EXPECT NEXT:

Shortly after the announcement closes, you will be notified as to whether or not you meet the basic qualification requirements. If you do, you will receive further consideration and evaluation. If the position is in the bargaining unit, and your application is referred to the selecting official, you will be contacted for an interview. Interviews for positions not in the bargaining unit may be conducted at the discretion of the selecting official. All qualified applicants will receive final notification of the outcome of the job opportunity announcement.